[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Chapter 11

The charity dinner was still going strong and Declan noticed Nora rubbing her eyes. She had been doing that for the past few minutes now.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"My contacts are irritating me. I think I should take them out."

Declan nodded. "Should we go to the restrooms?"

She shot him a look. "We? I'm not a child. I can find the bathrooms myself."

"Well, I need a bathroom break as well." Declan casually took a few steps forward before he looked over his shoulder. "Are you coming along?"

Nora released a heavy sigh through her nose before she followed his steps and stood behind him. He smiled down at her before he led her through the room and out into the hallway. They reached the restrooms and Declan stopped in front of the men's doorway to glance at Nora. She eyed him suspiciously but he simply grinned at her before motioning for her to enter the bathroom.

After a few seconds of silence, she walked through the doorway. Declan smirked to himself before he walked away from the entrance of the men's restroom and leaned against the wall by the women's restroom. Unless he forcefully decided to come along, Nora would've refused his company. It wasn't as if he needed to constantly be by her side, but Declan just wanted to be there with her—especially with what happened earlier.

She looked like a cornered mouse, in the middle of hungry snakes. She was their perfect target and Declan did the best he could to protect her. He saw her expression though, and he knew their words hurt her.

What he used to say and do to her was no different and Declan never failed to regret the decision to treat her poorly in the past. He knew women who had no interest in him existed, but he still had a fairly large ego. The employees—especially the females—loved Declan's visits. So when he met Nora, was introduced, and then almost immediately ignored right afterwards, he took a blow.

Declan still remembered seeing her strut down the hospital hallway, walking towards him and the few other nurses who stopped to greet him on his visit. One of the employees called for her to come over for introductions, but she simply greeted him with a polite smile and a wave before she continued on her way—all without a break in her steps.

The nurses he were with told him that Nora was usually standoffish and to not take her quick greeting then dismissal to heart. Unfortunately, he was already affected. He truly did amaze himself with his pubescent behavior towards Nora afterwards—the taunting and teasing only worsened their relationship. And yet, he knew that he wanted her to acknowledge him. God, just recalling the memories made him feel ashamed.

However, Declan finally got what he wanted when they slept together, but it seemed that only made her widen the distance between them even more. Until she told him about her pregnancy. He immediately decided to take responsibility, simply out of duty. And then he found out the name of their child.

Denora—a combination of their names. And yet she still denied having any feelings towards him beside lust.

Footsteps sounded down the hallway and Declan glanced to the side to see a young woman walking towards him. He didn't recognize the girl and simply dismissed her and looked away as he continued to wait for Nora.

She came closer and closer and Declan looked up and met her eyes as she passed by him. Her lips upturned into a trained, sultry smile. Declan didn't return the favor as Nora exited the bathroom and the two women bumped shoulders. Nora apologized and squinted at the girl, but she ignored the apology and continued on her way into the bathroom.

Nora blinked and turned to Declan, her eyes still squinted.

"Declan?" she asked.

He smiled at her expression. She was farsighted, so it didn't surprise him that she didn't recognize him. He reached out and grasped her hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand.